Tag Archives: Awards

Post navigation

Sunday marked the last day of MLB games until after the All-Star break, and although the baseball world is looking forward to seeing baseball’s best sluggers put on a show in the home run derby, I wanted to quickly focus my attention on the players who have posted amazing performances throughout the first half of the season.

For this post, I’m covering the players who I feel stand the best chance right now (given, it’s still early) of winning the three major awards of Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Cy Young. All three awards have multiple players who can be argued as being deserving, but I have my own opinion as to who deserves each award the most at this point in the season.

Most Valuable Player Award

American League: Mike Trout

After a couple of seasons of getting beaten out for the award by Miguel Cabrera, Trout is finally breaking out into an every season Most Valuable Player. Already having blasted 26 home runs, and well on his way to another 100+ run year, Trout could be picking up another MVP at the season’s end.

National League: Paul Goldschmidt

I nearly went with Bryce Harper for this category, and when all is said and done, he very well may win it. But there is no ignoring what Paul Goldschmidt is doing for the Diamondback’s. With a .340 batting average, 21 homers and 70 RBI’s, Goldschmidt is having an MVP caliber season.

Rookie of the Year Award

American League: Lance McCullers Jr.

Picking Lance McCullers Jr. was by no means an easy choice, as there are a few other pitchers and position players that have stats that stand out, but I decided that he was currently the leader. With a 2.52 ERA over 11 games started, McCullers is really impressing a lot of people around the baseball world.

National League: Joc Pederson

It is somewhat difficult to pick between Joc Pederson and Kris Bryant for who deserves the award, but I ended up going with Pederson. Despite batting in the lower .200’s, Pederson’s 20 home runs so far is extremely impressive for a rookie. In my mind, that’s enough to earn him the award.

Cy Young Award

American League: Sonny Gray

Although there is a good amount of competition at the break for the American League Cy Young award, Sonny Gray leads the charge. With a 2.04 ERA over 18 games started, and an opponent batting average below .200, Gray is in a good spot if he can keep pitching the way he has.

National League: Zack Greinke

Once again, there’s a Dodgers pitcher out in front of the candidates for Cy Young award, but this time it’s not Clayton Kershaw. Instead, Kershaw’s teammate, Zack Greinke, is the one dominating the league. With an incredible ERA of 1.39 after 123.1 innings pitched, Greinke would have to fall apart to not win the award.

Whether or not you agree or disagree with my picks for who deserves each award at this point in the season, one thing is for sure: there is still a lot of season left where any player can have anything happen. With 15 of the 30 teams at .500 or better, in terms of wins-losses go, regardless of the award races, the games following the mid-summer classic are sure to make for an exciting second half.

The 2014 Greatness In Baseball Yearly (GIBBY) award winners were announced Saturday night on MLB Network. The GIBBY awards — which began in 2002, but were referred to as the ‘This Year In Baseball Awards’ until 2010 — are awarded annually for a number of different categories (25 this year), including Rookie of the Year, Play of the Year, MVP of the Year, etc.

These awards are voted on by the media, front office personnel, former players, fans and the fans society for American baseball research, and given to the winner seen as the best for each category. Below are the 2014 GIBBY award winners with my thoughts on each:

Most Valuable Major Leaguer

My pick: Clayton Kershaw

Winner: Clayton Kershaw

This was the year of Kershaw. After winning the Cy Young award and picking up the Most Valuable Player award as well for the season, Clayton Kershaw also takes home the Most Valuable Major Leaguer award. Leading all of baseball in wins (21) and ERA (1.77) despite missing the first month of the season, Kershaw was pretty remarkable.

Everyday Player of the Year

My pick: Jose Altuve

Winner: Mike Trout

This category was origninally refered to as the Hitter of the Year award, which is why I went with Jose Altuve. But Mike Trout was in fact the most deserving player of the honor. Having a career high in both home runs and RBI’s, with 36 and 111, respectively, Trout takes home this award with ease.

Staring Pitcher of the Year

My pick: Clayton Kershaw

Winner: Clayton Kershaw

As with the category of Most Valuable Major Leaguer, this was a no brainer. Having won so many awards this year, I’ve run out of things to say about Kershaw. So I’ll just say something everyone already knew: Kershaw was brilliant this season. It’s as simple as that.

Rookie of the Year

My pick: Jose Abreu

Winner: Jose Abreu

Although there were many good candidates for Rookie of the Year from the 2014 season, one player stood far above the rest. Slugging the sixth most home runs ever by a rookie, with 36, Jose Abreu takes home this GIBBY, after becoming the first rookie in history to finish the year in the top five of all three Triple Crown statistics.

Closer of the Year

My pick: Craig Kimbrel

Winner: Greg Holland

I had Craig Kimbrel winning this award after the great season he put together once again for the Braves, but instead it was Greg Holland receiving the hardware. I can’t argue too much. Holland had a season worth of recognition, posting a 1.44 ERA over the course of 62.1 regular season innings, and was a valuable asset of the Royals’ postseason run.

Setup Player of the Year

My pick: Dellin Betances

Winner: Wade Davis

This was a rather difficult award to pick a winner from, but although I had Dellin Betances winning the GIBBY, it ended up going to the Royals’ Wade Davis. Coming over from the Rays a couple of seasons ago, Davis used to be a starting pitcher, but after recording a 1.00 ERA on the season, it’s likely he’s going to stay put as a setup man.

Defensive Player of the Year

My pick: Andrelton Simmons

Winner: Andrelton Simmons

Although another tough choice, this award was made for guys like Andrelton Simmons. Seemingly making an unbelievable play every single night, Simmons is one of those players that makes even the most difficult of plays look routine. In addition to the GIBBY, Simmons also won his second career Gold Glove last month.

Breakout Everyday Player of the Year

My pick: J.D. Martinez

Winner: Jose Altuve

I chose J.D. Martinez, simply because of the amazing season he had after the Astros released him in March, but you can’t argue with Jose Altuve winning. Becoming the first player since Ichiro in 2001 to lead the league in average (.341), hits (225) and stolen bases (56), Altuve had a special season extremely worth of the GIBBY.

Breakout Pitcher of the Year

My pick: Corey Kluber

Winner: Corey Kluber

The Angels’ Garrett Richards likely would’ve been the recipient of this award had he not gotten injured towards the end of the season. But regardless, Corey Kluber more than did enough for the GIBBY. Kluber started with a decent season, posting a 3.01 ERA before the All-Star break, but finished strong, closing out the second half with a 1.73 ERA.

Bounceback Player of the Year

My pick: Casey McGehee

Winner: Johnny Cueto

I found it hard to believe that Casey McGehee wasn’t even a finalist after the year he put together following a 2013 season in Japan. But I don’t disagree with the award winner. Johnny Cueto would’ve won the Cy Young award, had it not have been for Clayton Kershaw, as he went a great 20-9 with a 2.25 ERA over 34 starts this year.

Manager of the Year

My pick: Bruce Bochy

Winner: Bruce Bochy

Usuably the manager that leads their team to a Fall Classic victory is the winner of Manager of the Year. However, while Bruce Bochy takes home the GIBBY for this category, the official manager of the year for the N.L. went to Matt Williams. Still, what Bochy has been able to do over the course of his career is unbelievable.

Executive of the Year

My pick: Brian Sabean

Winner: Dayton More

Making the postseason for the first time since 1985, it’s little surprise that the Royals’ general manager won the GIBBY for Executive of the Year. He was very deserving, despite the fact that I had the Giants’ general manager, Brian Sabean, taking home the hardware.

Postseason Most Valuable Player

My pick: Madison Bumgarner

Winner: Madison Bumgarner

What Clayton Kershaw was to the regular season, Madison Bumgarner was to the postseason — and then some. Setting a new postseason innings record by throwing 52.2 innings over the span of the playoffs, there is little doubt that the Giants wouldn’t have won the Championship without Bumgarner, who now holds a career 0.25 World Series ERA.

Play of the Year

My pick: Souza saves no-hitter

Winner: Souza saves no-hitter

There were numerous terrific plays throughout the season, however, Steven Souza’s diving catch to save Jordan Zimmermann’s no-hitter was the one that everyone agreed was the best. Coming on as a defensive replacement, Souza’s catch, happening on the last day of the regular season, secured the first no-no in Nationals’ history.

Outfield Throw of the Year

My pick: Cespedes’ incredible throw

Winner: Cespedes’ incredible throw

I’ve seen a lot of great throws in my time as a baseball fan, but few top the one made by Yoenis Cespedes against the Angels in June. After bobbling the baseball, Cespedes turned a sure run into an amazing out. Just as “The Catch” made by Willie Mays is forever tied to him, “The Throw” made by Cespedes will forever be linked to him.

Moment of the Year

My pick: 2 good to be true

Winner: 2 good to be true

No moment this season topped the walk off hit by Derek Jeter in his last game of his career at Yankee stadium. Though Jeter has dozens of amazing moments to choose from, this may be the most incredible of them all. This becomes the seventh career GIBBY award for Jeter — a sure first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Storyline of the Year

My pick: Farewell, Captain

Winner: Instant Improvement

I had Derek Jeter’s final season being the storyline of 2014, but it didn’t end up winning. Instead, the topic of expanded instant replay takes home the GIBBY. Admittedly, it was interesting to see the great progress made by instant replay this season, but I still think Jeter should’ve won. However, even he can’t win them all.

Hitting Performance of the Year

My pick: Chisenhall’s career night

Winner: Chisenhall’s career night

There were several superb hitting performances this season, including Yasiel Puig recording three triples in a game (that’s something you may never see again). But in the end, none could overtake the night Lonnie Chisenhall had in June. By going 5-5 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI’s, Chisenhall earns this award without much argument.

Pitching Performance of the Year

My pick: Kerfection

Winner: Kerfection

Every time Clayton Kershaw takes the mound, I find myself tuning in to see him pitch. Every single time. Kershaw is one of those once in a generation players that is must see T.V. He sure was that way back in June when he tossed his first career no-hitter — a 15 strikeout gem in which he came a single error shy of a perfect game.

Oddity of the Year

My pick: Wild pitch scores three

Winner: Wild pitch scores three

Have you ever seen a single wild pitch score three runs? No? Me either. That is, until it happened to the Brewers against the Rockies in Denver earlier this season. While there were a few other “odd” moments from 2014, this was by far the most unusual of the entire season.

Walk-off of the Year

My pick: A night 2 remember

Winner: A night 2 remember

Already winning an award for ‘Moment of the Year’, this GIBBY once again honored Derek Jeter’s walk off single against the Orioles in one of the most memorable moments in recent baseball history.

Cut4 Topic of the Year

My pick: 50 cent throw

Winner: Boy Gifts Baseball

The first pitch made by 50 cent at Citi Field this season was hands down the worst I’ve ever seen in my life, but it wasn’t bad enough, apparently, to win the GIBBY for topic of the year. That honor went to the boy who gave a souvenir baseball to a girl sitting behind him. For me, I’ve seen that too many times. I don’t agree with this GIBBY.

Postseason Play

My pick: No Panik

Winner: No Panik

There were several great plays made throughout the postseason that could’ve won this GIBBY, but the double play started by Joe Panik during game seven of the World Series was the best. Given its importance, with the Giants going on to win the championship, the diving stop and flip throw by Panik was one of the best double plays you’ll ever see.

Postseason Walk-off

My pick: Wild ending spurs Royals

Winner: Walk-off Down Memory Lane

While I had Salvador Perez’s walk off hit to send the Royals to the American League Division Series being the winner, the home run by Travis Ishikawa was deserving too. The first walk off homer to send a team to the World Series since Bobby Thomson in 1951, Ishikawa put his name in the history books with his memorable blast.

Postseason Storyline

My pick: Wild win sparks Royals’ run

Winner: Wild win sparks Royals’ run

If it couldn’t win for the last category, I’m glad to see that the walk off single by Salvador Perez took home the GIBBY for postseason storyline. With the Royals making the playoffs for the first time since 1985, the hit by Perez started the amazing run by the Royals that saw them coming up a win shy of a World Series title.

The 2014 Silver Slugger award winners were announced Thursday night on MLB Network. While the Gold Glove awards given out on Tuesday focused on the defensive side of baseball, the Silver Slugger awards are given annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League.

Marking the 34th annual Silver Slugger awards, which began in 1980, the awards are voted on by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball (managers can not vote for their own players), with voters considering several offensive categories in selecting the winners, including batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage, in addition to coaches’ and managers’ general impressions of a player’s overall offensive value.

Barry Bonds’ 12 career Silver Slugger awards stand as the most all-time by a single player at any position, and no one from this season’s winners are even close. Here are the list of winners with my thoughts on each:

OUTFIELD

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Barry Bonds holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as an outfielder, with twelve.

All six winners of the Silver Slugger award for the outfield position between the American League and National League were very deserving. Michael Brantley picks up his first award after the great season he put together, as does Giancarlo Stanton, who surprisingly has never won one before. Justin Upton and Jose Bautista take home their second and third career Silver Slugger awards, respectively, for their good offensive numbers posted this year, and could win several more between them in the years to come. Both Andrew McCutchen and Mike Trout each picked up their third career and third consecutive Silver Slugger, with Trout having won one each of his full seasons in the majors.

FIRST BASE

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Todd Helton is tied with Albert Pujols for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a first baseman, with four.

NL Winner – Adrian Gonzalez (2nd career)

AL Winner – Jose Abreu (1st career)

Shockingly, this is just Adrian Gonzalez’s second career Silver Slugger award, despite having some great seasons over the course of his time in the majors. However, Jose Abreu winning the award in his rookie season came as no shock. He was absolutely terrific for the White Sox this year, and should also add the Rookie of the Year award to his list of accomplishments.

SECOND BASE

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Ryne Sandberg holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a second baseman, with seven.

NL Winner –Neil Walker (1st career)

AL Winner –Jose Altuve (1st career)

Both winners of the Silver Slugger award for second base received the honor for the first time in their careers. Neil Walker had a breakout offensive year, as did Jose Altuve, who led all of baseball in hits and set a new franchise record for hits in a season for the Astros. Anytime you do something like that, a Silver Slugger award is almost a sure thing.

THIRD BASE

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Wade Boggs holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a third baseman, with eight.

NL Winner –Anthony Rendon (1st career)

AL Winner – Adrian Beltre (4th career)

Anthony Rendon showed signs this season of just how good of a player he can become, and was rewarded with a Silver Slugger for his efforts. One of the best players on the Nationals all year long, Rendon will be a big part of their team for seasons to come. The Rangers’ Adrian Beltre takes home his fourth career award, putting together a solid offensive year of his own at third base.

SHORTSTOP

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Barry Larkin holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a shortstop, with nine.

NL Winner –Ian Desmond (3rd career)

AL Winner – Alexei Ramirez (2nd career)

For the most part, shortstops aren’t known for terrific offensive productivity. However, there always seem to be a few each season that put together great numbers. This season, those two players were Ian Desmond and Alexei Ramirez. Picking up his third straight Silver Slugger award, Desmond has quietly become one of the best hitting shortstops in baseball. As has Alexei Ramirez, who picks up his second career award.

CATCHER

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Mike Piazza holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a catcher, with ten.

NL Winner –Buster Posey (2nd career)

AL Winner –Yan Gomes (1st career)

Buster Posey won the third World Series Championship of his short career this season when the Giants beat the Royals in the Fall Classic, being a big reason the Giants made it there. One of the best hitting catchers in baseball, Posey adds a second Silver Slugger to his extensive list of career awards. Yan Gomes picks up his first Silver Slugger, slowly showing all of baseball that he has the potential to become a star catcher.

PITCHER

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Mike Hampton holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a pitcher, with five.

Winner –Madison Bumgarner (1st career)

Pitchers are terrible hitters; everyone knows that, right? Well, surprisingly, some of them aren’t. In fact, a few pitchers around Major League Baseball can hit fairly well. But no other pitcher was as good at the plate in 2014 as Madison Bumgarner, who hit two grand slams during the season, and therefore picks up the first Silver Slugger award of his career.

DESIGNATED HITTER

Most Silver Slugger Awards: David Ortiz holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a Designated Hitter, with six.

Winner – Victor Martinez (2nd career)

Breaking out to have one of the best offensive years of anyone in all of baseball this past season, Victor Martinez surprised many with his great production as the Tigers’ designated hitter. For his efforts, Martinez was awarded his second career Silver Slugger award, truly having a marvelous offensive season that put him back on everyone’s radar.

2014 SILVER SLUGGER AWARDS FAST FACTS

There were eight first time Silver Slugger award winners.

There were three Silver Slugger award winners that also won last year.

Five different teams had two players receive Silver Slugger awards.

Adrian Gonzalez was the only Silver Slugger winner that won a 2014 Gold Glove.

The 2014 Major League Baseball Players’ Choice Award winners were announced last night on MLB Network. Unlike the BBWAA awards, these awards, as the name would suggest, are voted on by players from around baseball each September, when they receive a ballot to make their picks for each category. Six categories in all, American League players vote for American League players with National League players voting for National League players, with the exception of the Marvin Miller Man of the Year award and the Player of the Year award, in which players from both leagues vote for a single player.

The winning player for each category is awarded a grant from the MLB Players Trust, ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 dollars, depending on the award that they win. The money goes to the winner’s choice of charity, with some players deciding to split up the money between multiple causes. This marks the 22nd annual Players Choice Awards, which began in 1992. Here’s a recap of the winners, with my thoughts on each:

OUTSTANDING ROOKIE AWARD ($20,000)

AL Nominees – Jose Abreu, Matt Shoemaker and Danny Santana

AL Winner –Jose Abreu

NL Nominees – Billy Hamilton, Jacob deGrom and David Peralta

NL Winner – Jacob deGrom

Although I feel that Dellin Betances should’ve been one of the American League nominees for Outstanding Rookie after the great season he had, I can’t argue at all with the winner. Jose Abreu had an unbelievable inaugural season, hitting 36 homers with the White Sox, and will likely be a big part of their future in the many years to come. On the National League side of the award, it came down to Billy Hamilton and Jacob deGrom for me. But although it was a close call, Hamilton hitting around .250 earns deGrom the award.

OUTSTANDING PITCHER AWARD ($20,000)

AL Nominees – Felix Hernandez, Corey Kluber and Chris Sale

AL Winner –Felix Hernandez

NL Nominees – Johnny Cueto, Clayton Kershaw and Adam Wainwright

NL Winner –Clayton Kershaw

All three American League nominees had incredible seasons worthy of recognition, but Felix Hernandez had the best statistical season of them all. Posting a career high 15 wins and a career low 2.14 ERA, Hernandez was the obvious choice. As was Clayton Kershaw. Taking home the Outstanding Pitcher award for the National League, Kershaw had a historic season with a miniscule 1.77 ERA, and there was no way that he wasn’t going to win this award.

COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD ($20,000)

AL Nominees –J.D. Martinez, Victor Martinez and Chris Young

AL Winner –Chris Young

NL Nominees –Tim Hudson, Casey McGehee and Edinson Volquez

NL Winner –Casey McGehee

Obviously the one award that a player least wants to receive, meaning that they bounced back from years of injuries or poor performance. (But the important aspect, I suppose, is that the player did in fact bounce back.) Winning the Comeback Player of the Year award for the American League was Chris Young (the pitcher, not the outfielder) along with Casey McGehee for the National League. Both players had tremendous 2014 campaigns, coming off recent struggles on both their parts.

OUTSTANDING PLAYER AWARD ($20,000)

AL Nominees –Mike Trout, Jose Altuve and Victor Martinez

AL Winner –Mike Trout

NL Nominees –Josh Harrison, Clayton Kershaw and Giancarlo Stanton

NL Winner –Giancarlo Stanton

Seemingly getting better and better each year, with plans to get even better in 2015, Mike Trout was the players’ choice for Outstanding American League player of the year. Scoring over 100 runs for the third straight season, and breaking the 30 homer mark for the first time in his young career, Trout could be taking this award home for many years. For the National League, Giancarlo Stanton received the honor. Despite an injury which cut his season short, players agreed that Stanton, with his incredible display of power, is the rightful winner.

MARVIN MILLER MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD ($50,000)

Nominees –Clayton Kershaw, Adam LaRoche and Anthony Rizzo

Winner –Clayton Kershaw

The Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award is given each year to the player most recognized for outstanding on-field performance and off-field contributions to his community. Past winners include Mark McGwire, Albert Pujols, Chipper Jones and Mariano Rivera, among many others. This year, the award went to Clayton Kershaw, whose ‘Kershaw’s Challenge’ looks “to encourage people to use whatever God-given passion or talent they have to make a difference and give back to people in need”. Combine Kershaw’s community contributions with his 2014 stats, and he definitely is the top choice for the prestigious award.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD ($50,000)

Nominees –Clayton Kershaw, Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Trout

Winner – Clayton Kershaw

Taking home his third award of the night, and bringing the total amount of money donated by the MLB Players Trust to $120,000, Clayton Kershaw takes dominance of award winning to a new level. Going 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA over the course of the season, Kershaw likely is just getting started. With the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) awards being given out next week, it’s almost certain that Kershaw will take home the National League Cy Young award — with many putting him in line to win the NL MVP as well.

Before I begin my recap of my votes for the major MLB awards, I want to take a second to acknowledge both the Royals and the Giants on advancing to the 2014 World Series. Both teams were outstanding in their given league championship series, with the Royals sweeping and the Giants losing just once. And thus, it should make for a very entertaining World Series, which begins in Kansas City on Tuesday. But while I’m going to make some World Series predictions in my next blog post, this post is meant to focus solely on the major MLB awards.

Over the past week, or so, I’ve been typing up individual posts on who I feel most deserves the awards of American League and National League Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player.

Some of the choices were easy, while others took a great deal of debate. But in the end I went with my gut of who I feel deserves each award the most.

In case you missed a few (or all) of my Major League Baseball award posts, I wanted to do a brief recap. Here are my picks that I made for each category:

Feel free to click the links associated with each award to be taken to my post on it, giving the full reasoning behind my picks. I’m planning to post a blog entry covering the winners of each award when they’re announced towards the middle of next month, comparing my original picks to the winners and giving my overall thoughts, so be sure to check back for that.

Going into Tuesday, it had been over a month since Clayton Kershaw last threw a pitch on the major league level (down in Australia against the Diamondback’s on March 22nd). However, despite the large gap due to an injury, Kershaw picked up right where he left off, overpowering the Nationals and recording his second win of the 2014 season — the 31st start of his career with zero earned runs on seven or more innings pitched.

Kershaw’s missed month was due to an injury he acquired after plowing through the D-backs lineup in game one of the 2014 Opening Series in Australia (a start that many are now questioning), experiencing a strained left shoulder muscle afterwards, which landed him on the disabled list for the first time in his seven-year career.

Though many people felt that the Dodgers were too cautious with Kershaw, spreading his rehabilitation out over several weeks, you can understand their concern, having just locked him up on a seven-year, 215 million dollar, record breaking contract back in January.

Making two rehab starts down in the minor leagues before getting the call back up to the majors, Kershaw’s return couldn’t have come at a better time for the Dodgers, who were merely managing to keep in contention, having gone 17-15 without him. Sitting behind the Rockies and Giants in the National League west, despite pre season predictions from many for them to run away with the division, having Kershaw back immediately makes the Dodgers a stronger overall team.

But the loss of their two-time Cy Young award winner for the first part of the season didn’t just have an impact on the Dodgers as a whole; it may prove to have a big impact on Kershaw himself. Although he moved to 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA on the season, behind an 8-3 win on Tuesday night against the Nat’s, having missed over a month, many pitchers in the National League have been given the opportunity to overtake Kershaw when it comes to the running for some of the games’ highest honors.

None more so than Jose Fernandez.

Fernandez, who finished third in Cy Young voting in 2013 (truly saying something considering the fact that it was his rookie season), currently sits as the front runner to make the start for the National League All-Star team in July, as well as to win the 2014 NL Cy Young award, with his stat line of 4-1 with a 1.74 ERA on the year.

Given, there’s still a ton of the season left where anything can happen, with Kershaw having to play catch up, Fernandez could potentially run away with the voting at season’s end, should he be able to continue his fantastic pitching performances.

Even so, Clayton Kershaw’s return is good for both the Dodgers and baseball, even if it did come a bit later than in year’s past. Every time he takes the mound, people stop and watch to see how Kershaw will perform, as there’s always the chance for something special to happen.

Going down in the record books — at least for now — as the highest annually paid pitcher in Major League Baseball history, Kershaw showed on Tuesday why he’s worth every penny the Dodgers spent, and, inevitably, why he will go down in the record books as one of the best pitchers the game of baseball has ever seen.

Monday was a busy day for Major League Baseball’s Hot Stove. Several players either signed or were traded, making an otherwise slow offseason pickup a bit. I won’t take the time to go over every single deal that has taken place recently, however, I do want to give my thoughts on the main deals that took place on Monday — and one from today.

The biggest deal, by far, was the Tigers trading Doug Fister to the Nationals, in exchange for Minor League player, Robbie Ray, along with Nat’s second baseman, Steve Lombardozzi, and rookie pitcher from 2013, Ian Krol. This deal helps out the Nationals most, as they have a young prospect, Anthony Rendon, who’s ready to take over at second full time, and Krol and Ray aren’t a lot to lose for a pitcher of Fister’s caliber. (Fister went 14-9 with a 3.67 ERA in 2013.)

On the Tigers’ side of things, while it doesn’t seem to make a ton of sense, they’re going to use the money saved by getting rid of Fister to sign Joe Nathan to fill their closer role. The Tigers are still left with a rotation of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Annibal Sanchez, and the signing of Nathan will help them out tremendously.

Theoretically, this furthers the case for the Tigers hanging onto Scherzer, instead of trading the 2013 Cy Young award winner, but it’s still possible that they will. What the Tigers really needed was a closer, and they’re getting a good one in Joe Nathan, who recorded 43 saves in 2013.

As far as closers go, Jim Johnson is one of the games best at the moment, and he was part of a deal between the Athletics and Orioles that sent him out to Oakland for Jemile Weeks — a low-end player who only spent eight games in the Majors last season, batting .111 — and a player to be named later. Johnson, who posted a 2.94 ERA last season while recording 50 saves, has achieved at least 50 saves for the past two seasons. (His 101 saves over the past two years is the best in baseball.) He should improve the A’s bullpen drastically.

The Athletics also signed Scott Kazmir to a two-year deal, who was decent in 2013, having the best season of his career since 2008, and will join a pretty good rotation of players such as Sonny Gray and Jarrod Parker.

This signing likely ends their pursuit of Bartolo Colon, who was great last season, going 18-6 with a 2.65 ERA, but was asking for more money than the A’s were willing to give him. But even if Colon leaves, the signing of Kazmir and Johnson makes them a much better team, at least as far as their pitching goes.

After the great season he had with the Rangers in 2013, batting .272 with 17 home runs and 70 RBI’s, the Red Sox signed free agent A.J. Pierzynski to a one-year contract on Monday.

This more than likely means that the Sox’ catcher from this season, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, will be headed to another team, despite posting decent stats of 14 home runs and 65 RBI’s to go along with a .273 batting average in 2013. As I stated in a previous post, I feel the Rangers would be a good fit for Saltalamacchia, however, it all depends on what the Rangers are looking to do.

With four months remaining until the 2014 season, anything can happen.